France and the King of the North
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1) Two witnesses
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Revelation 11:2-6
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
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The two witnesses represent the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testament. {GC 267.1}​
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...This is the word of the LORD {Zechariah 4:2-6}
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The periods here mentioned—“forty and two months,” and “a thousand two hundred and threescore days”—are the same, alike representing the time in which the church of Christ was to suffer oppression from Rome. The 1260 years of papal supremacy began in A.D. 538, and would therefore terminate in 1798. {GC 266.3}
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2) France - the Beast from the bottomless pit
Revelation 11:7
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
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The two witnesses' testimony was finished in the year A.D. 1798.
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​The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit describes the French power.
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When they shall have finished [are finishing] their testimony.” The period when the two witnesses were to prophesy clothed in sackcloth, ended in 1798. As they were approaching the termination of their work in obscurity, war was to be made upon them by the power represented as “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.” In many of the nations of Europe the powers that ruled in church and state had for centuries been controlled by Satan through the medium of the papacy. But here is brought to view a new manifestation of satanic power. {GC 268.3}
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It had been Rome's policy, under a profession of reverence for the Bible, to keep it locked up in an unknown tongue and hidden away from the people. Under her rule the witnesses prophesied “clothed in sackcloth.” But another power—the beast from the bottomless pit—was to arise to make open, avowed war upon the word of God. {GC 269.1}
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This prophecy has received a most exact and striking fulfillment in the history of France. {GC 269.4}
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In 1798, "the time of the end", also the year when the two witnesses finished their testimony, the French army invaded Egypt at the Battle of the Pyramids on July 21, 1798. In addition, on September 2 of the same year, Turkey declared war on France and attacked them with fury.
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And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. {Daniel 11:40}
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The time of the end is the year 1798.
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The king of the south represents Egypt
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The king of the north represents Turkey
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The French power whom the Egyptian and Turkey war against in 1798 is described as the following: Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. {Daniel 11:37}
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Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers refers to atheism.
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It was popery that had begun the work which atheism was completing. The policy of Rome had wrought out those conditions, social, political, and religious, that were hurrying France on to ruin. {GC 276.4}​
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nor the desire of women​​
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The desire of women is often confused with the lust of women. The Scripture speaks of the lust for women as HATE. For example, when Amnon raped Tamar out of lust, it was described as he hated her exceedingly: "Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone. "{2 Samuel 13:14-15}
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The desire of women is found in marriage. Consider the following verses:
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Genesis 3:16 - Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.​
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Song of Solomon 7:10 - I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.
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Psalms 37:4 - Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
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When France got rid of marriage and legalized lust, desire of women was put away and the hatred of women was enthroned.​
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And the historian presents together the atheism and the licentiousness of France, as given in the prophecy: “Intimately connected with these laws affecting religion, was that which reduced the union of marriage—the most sacred engagement which human beings can form, and the permanence of which leads most strongly to the consolidation of society—to the state of a mere civil contract of a transitory character, which any two persons might engage in and cast loose at pleasure.... If fiends had set themselves to work to discover a mode of most effectually destroying whatever is venerable, graceful, or permanent in domestic life, and of obtaining at the same time an assurance that the mischief which it was their object to create should be perpetuated from one generation to another, they could not have invented a more effectual plan than the degradation of marriage.... Sophie Arnoult, an actress famous for the witty things she said, described the republican marriage as ‘the sacrament of adultery.’”—Scott, vol. 1, ch. 17. {GC 270.1}
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3) Turkey - The King of the North
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The term "the king of the north" appears 7 times in the entire Scriptures and all occurrences are in the 11th Chapter of Daniel. Attached notes for the first 2 occurrences are used to illustrate that the king of the North refers to the ruler of the Seleucid Empire which their Military Outpost was located in Antioch of Pisidia Turkey. For detailed notes for all the occurrences, please refer to [Daniel 11] book here (https://www.tm91studies.com/books).
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see below:
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Daniel 11:6 - And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.​
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King of the South at this time changed to Ptolemy II Philadelphus [283 to 246 B.C.] (also known as Ptolemy the Great) and his daughter was Berenice.
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King of the North at this time became Antiochus II Theos (who succeeded his father Antiochus Soter I in 261-246 B.C.) Note: Antiochus II Theos is also Grandson of Seleucus I Nicator from verse five.
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"king’s daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement" - Under political pressure, Antiochus II Theos (King of the North) married Berenice and put his current wife Laodice and son away.
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Berenice, was the daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (king’s daughter of the south).
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After the death of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Antiochus II Theos left Berenice (no longer subjected to Berenice’s father’s influence) and their infant son Antiochus in Antioch to live again with Laodice in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Laodice not willing to be disgraced again murdered Berenice and her children.
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Daniel 11:7 But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail:
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" a branch of her roots" - Ptolemy Euergetes, Berenice’s brother declared war and avenged his sister’s death and murder.
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"the king of the north" - King of the North was Seleucus II Callinicus, son of Laodice.
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"come with an army, and enter into the fortress of the king of the north" - Third Syrian War (246–241 B.C.), also known as the Laodicean war.
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Daniel 11:8 And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north.
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Daniel 11:11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his hand.
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Daniel 11:13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches.
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Daniel 11:15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.
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Daniel 11:40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
The king of the north power that declared war on France in 1798 ("at the time of the end") was Turkey. All the seven occurrences of the term "the king of the north" refer to a military power in the physical location of Modern day Turkey.
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Below is an excerpt of Daniel 11:6 as it is understood by historians. The whole of Daniel 11 is to be taken as a literal prophecy instead of symbolic.
